Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 4, 1990 TAG: 9004040160
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BEN BEAGLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Macfarlane said after a transportation allocation hearing in Salem that voter approval will be necessary for the Roanoke-Blacksburg link - which would run between Interstate 81 and Virginia Tech in Montgomery County.
At the hearing, Macfarlane told transportation officials the bonds "will certainly be the funding mechanism" to build the road.
He said the measure, if authorized by voters in November, would allow the issuance of bonds totaling between $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion.
For the bond issue to work, the money would have to be used for 17 to 20 road projects across the state, he said.
Macfarlane told transportation officials that the Roanoke-Blacksburg road is "our U.S. 58."
That was a reference to General Assembly action in 1989 that authorized $600 million in bonds for improvements to U.S. 58 from the Southwest Virginia mountains to the ocean.
Macfarlane said at the hearing that the proposed $15 million state share of the Roanoke River Parkway is not as important as the Blacksburg-Roanoke road.
The parkway, he said, "pales to insignificance as to what our real needs are."
After the hearing, Macfarlane said he was not opposed to the parkway but, "I think it's got a low priority."
Gordon C. Willis Sr., chairman of the University Connection committee, also pushed for the Roanoke-Blackburg road.
The committee has been formed to promote the link between Roanoke and Blacksburg. It stresses that the research and technology at Virginia Tech is important to the economic development of Southwest Virginia.
It says the quick link between the Roanoke Valley metropolitan area and Blacksburg is essential.
Willis said Blacksburg is the "only significant community along" Interstate 81 that does not have "direct access to the interstate."
In prepared remarks not used, Willis said the committee supports identifying a corridor for a road between I-81 and Blacksburg that would mean a 28-minute drive between Virginia Tech and Roanoke.
The Roanoke-Blacksburg link dominated a heavily attended public hearing at the state Transportation Department's Salem District headquarters.
The department holds hearings in all nine of its construction districts before it comes up with allocation for the new fiscal year.
Other familiar projects came up at the hearing - including a railroad overpass for Virginia 122 at Moneta in Bedford County.
Ron Ayers of the Moneta Ruritan Club gave officials the results of a traffic count on Virginia 122. The railroad crossing in town causes traffic congestion and traffic hazards, backers of the overpass say.
Ayers compared the Blacksburg road - estimated to cost well over $100 million - and the $3.4 million overpass to Goliath and David.
by CNB